What Do I Read Next?
Similar to Silas Marner, George Eliot’s novel Adam Bede (1859) is set in a fictional rural community where the inhabitants follow traditional communal lifestyles. However, unlike in Silas Marner, the villagers in Adam Bede must confront social changes they are not prepared to handle.
Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South (1855) offers an intriguing comparison to Eliot’s style and themes. The protagonist, Margaret Hale, is a young girl from southern England who is reluctantly sent to the northern industrial city of Manchester. There, she must adapt to a harsher environment than the one she has known.
Frederick Robert Karl’s biography, George Eliot: Voice of a Century: A Biography (1995), has received widespread acclaim for its vivid portrayal of Eliot. By thoroughly addressing issues of class and gender, Karl reconstructs the world in which she lived and illustrates how she emerged as a significant writer.
Asa Briggs’s The Age of Improvement: 1783–1867 (1959; 2nd ed., 1999) is a seminal work that examines the transformation of Britain from the French Revolution to the mid-Victorian era. Briggs explores the sociological, economic, political, and cultural changes during this period.
Richard Muir’s The English Village (1980) provides a historical overview of the English village and includes numerous photographs.
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